Genre: Historical
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay, Bi
Reviewer: Maryann
Get It On Amazon
About The Book
A gripping tale of love, resilience, and the harsh realities that test the bonds of friendship in this M/M romantic twist of fate tragedy.
Ham and Echo have been buddies since they were ten years old. Ham is drafted into the army at nineteen, and Echo promptly enlists, promising to have his back. Eleven years post-war, Echo is still haunted by what he has seen and done in Vietnam.
Ham, now married with two sons, put the past behind him. Echo did not transition back to civilian life as easily. Determined to help Echo, Ham gets him into an anger management program and a job on the ship he works on, the Gordon Lighton. Echo finds he can no longer deny the intensifying feelings he has for Ham. He wonders if Ham could ever feel the same for him.
One stormy night aboard the Gordon Lighton, Echo unravels a sex trafficking scheme aboard the ship. The weather worsens, and the Gordon Lighton is subjected to the brutal onslaught of nature’s fury. The unthinkable question hangs palpably in the air. Will the Gordon Lighton weather the storm?
The Review
Cole Oswald Echo and Hudson Andrew Miller have been best friends since the age of nine. They both grew up in the same poor neighborhood of Duluth, Minnesota. In August 1964, Hudson, aka Ham, was just eighteen when he found himself drafted, and he was terrified. He and Cole tried to think of ways to get out of it, but nothing worked. So instead Cole, aka Echo, enlisted. Echo wasn’t about to let his best friend face this terrifying experience alone. Echo promised to protect him and to be by Ham’s side to the end.
After the horrors of the Vietnam War, Ham and Echo remained best of friends. They both returned with PTSD, to a world that was not very forgiving. Ham met Olivia Merkinsteen, who came from a well-to-do family because of her lawyer/father Gabriel.
Ham was by no means Gabriels choice for a son-in-law. Ham had a job as a lowly librarian and had very little money. So a deal was made between Gabriel and Ham. He got Ham help for the PTSD, paid for his college education, and helped him become a licensed operator. Because of the Merkinsteen name, Ham got a job with Northland Cargo Carriers on their flagship, the Gordon Lighton.
He really liked this important position in the maritime field, working as the first-class radio officer. Olivia and Ham had two sons, and Ham loved them very much. Work and time at home kept Ham busy, but Olivia never seemed to be satisfied. She never liked Echo and was nasty to him. Echo thought it was because he made Olivia think of where Ham and he came from. She never wanted Echo to come to their home, and she argued continually when Ham wanted to spend time with Echo. But no matter what, Ham always made an effort to be there for his best friend.
Echo still had issues with PTSD. He was a really good guy, but he became a loner, changed by the war. He was still living in the same neighborhood, and had various jobs as a cook over time.
But when Echo’s PTSD is triggered, he finds himself in trouble. Luckily, Kelvin Walton is a good friend who also grew up with Ham and Echo, and is now a detective at the Duluth Heights police station. When Ham comes to pay Echo’s bail, Kelvin gives him sound advice to get Echo into an anger management program, before he winds up in prison.
Life takes a turn for both Echo and Ham. Ham has decisions to make about his new job and his situation at home. With Echo out of work, Ham takes a chance and recommends Echo for a cook job on the Gordon Lighton. It couldn’t get any better for Echo and Ham. But when Echo is introduced to one of the crew, he becomes suspicious and eventually follows him. What horror will Echo discover? And if that wasn’t enough, what awaits them on the Gordon Lighton, as gale winds and raging storm bears down on them?
Williams really surprised me with Ham and Echo: Voyage of the Gordon Lighton – it’s not at all what I expected. I liked both Ham and Echo and the attachment that gradually grew between them. For Ham, it’s an awakening as he remembers the closeness he shared with Echo during a time of war. He never thought that it was anything more than a form of comfort from a friend. He also has a home life that isn’t actually his. He’s under his wife’s and father-in-law’s control.
There’s also a little bit of nostalgia that made me giggle! Ham and Echo have no issues lighting up a cigarette anywhere.
This is a well-written tale that takes you on a thrilling journey aboard the Gordon Lighton, and the descriptions of the distressed ship and what the crew endures are intense and very realistic, throwing the reader right into the middle of the action.
I highly recommend Ham and Echo: Voyage of the Gordon Lighton, which goes from an awakening between two friends to an exciting and dangerous journey across stormy seas. And I was stunned with the ending, which I did not see coming.
I don’t know what Williams has planned next, but now I’m anxious to find out.
The Reviewer
Hi, I’m Maryann, I started life in New York, moved to New Hampshire and in 1965 uprooted again to Sacramento, California. Once I retired I moved to West Palm Beach, Florida in 2011 and just moved back to Sacramento in March of 2018. My son, his wife and step-daughter flew out to Florida and we road tripped back so they got to see sights they have never seen. New Orleans and the Grand Canyon were the highlights. Now I am back on the west coast again to stay! From a young age Ialways liked to read.
I remember going to the library and reading the “Doctor Dolittle” books by Hugh Lofting. Much later on became a big fan of the classics, Edgar Alan Poe, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker and as time went by Agatha Christie, Ray Bradbury and Stephen Kingand many other authors.
My first M/M shifter book I read was written by Jan Irving the “Uncommon Cowboys” series from 2012. She was the first author I ever contacted and sent an email to letting her know how much I liked this series. Sometime along the way I read “Zero to the Bone”by Jane Seville, I think just about everyone has read this book!
As it stands right now I’m really into mysteries, grit, gore and “triggers” don’t bother me. But if a blurb piques my interest I will read the book.
My kindle collection eclectic and over three thousand books and my Audible collection is slowly growing. I have both the kindle and audible apps on my ipod, ipads, and MAC. So there is never an excuse not to be listening or reading.
I joined Goodreads around 2012 and started posting reviews. One day a wonderful lady, Lisa Horan of The Novel Approach, sent me an email to see if I wanted to join her review group. Joining her site was such an eye opener. I got introduce to so many new authors that write for the LGBTQ genre. Needless to say, it was heart breaking when it ended.
But I found a really great site, QRI and it’s right here in Sacramento. Last year at QSAC I actually got to meet Scott Coatsworth, Amy Lane and Jeff Adams.
